To wonder why it's OK - even considered a positive thing- to give girls names that are traditionally considered boy's names but....

[BertrandRussell]

.......not the other way round?

I have a unisex name but rarely meet a female with the same name as me.
Even though its unisex it's still seen as quite a "strong" male name and am constantly addressed as Mr when I get letters and used to cause a lot of trouble when friends spoke to their boyfriends (when we were younger) when they'd say they were with me and the response would be "who's he?".
The problem does seem to be that male names are seen to be "strong" and female names as "girlie".
My DS has a boy name, it's a literary name and we often get comments on it being - quote lady in supermarket today - "flowery"

I'll have a go

Audrey - never much used for boys in the UK
Jean - I have French background so male name for me on the whole Female in the UK
Hilary - female, it wasn't much used for boys anyway
Jamie - more male
Andy - male
Cameron
Cody - no idea! I hope this isn't a popular one
Devon - male
Terry - male
Sydney - both
Erin - female
Francis - both with different spelling
Madison - more popular for girls

Easier to have said Frances/Francis Sydney/Sidney. Instances of both with some of the other names

Absolutely agree that boys should get 'girls' toys as well as 'boys' toys. My little boy has pink sippy cups (and blue) and a couple of pink babygros (mainly because I wasn't going to look a nice hand-me-down in the mouth).
He also owns a teaset, and he would own a doll but he shows no interest in any of his soft toys yet, so it seemed a bit of a waste of money.
Yes, I AM that mother.
I wouldn't have named him Amelia though. Because playgrounds are cruel places and I don't want him to suffer for my principles. (I won't be sending him to school in a dress either.)

I do know a male Vivian and Leigh though.

Reuset even though I'd hate the names, I have to agree. They are neutral names (as they are neutral nouns). Fable is feminine though.
Other examples: painting,cork,rug,watch/clock,gift,jar,pencil,pen,castle...no future must have names in that list though.

I wouldn't have named my daughter James for the same reason. I might have named her Mackenzie - I think of that one as unisex because JK Rowling's daughter is a Mackenzie.

Mac/Mc names mean 'son of'...one which has always tickled me is MacTaggart...which means Son of the Priest, which would have been from a time when priests were Catholic, and therefore not supposed to have children.

Danglybits - Marion is a boy´s name in German!

My name is in that list!!! You all think I'm male too

Except I'm actually named it after my mum read a magazine article about a ladies DGF with the name and loved it!

There's a few famous female ones too!

DGD not the ideal time for my iPad to decide to change what I wrote!

Kelly from Stereophonics is a man

The only other bloke I can think of who took a female stage name was Alice Cooper. Now, if a female singer had called herself Steven Smith (for argument's sake) there would have been a flood of little girls called Steven.

But though there is a town called Alice, as well as a male rock star called Alice, there certainly hasn't been a flood of little boys called Alice.

NB Florian is a very traditional boy's name in Austria.

Actually I had two people (unrelated, at different times in the last 3 years) convincing me that Astrid is a man's name! I think there is a rapper called Astrid? Maybe that's why? Bizzare.

Yes it's Kelly that can be unisex. I kept wanting to add Kerry to my list but wasn't sure if I was correct or not?!

I know a man called Jess. Not Jesse, Jess.

I know a man called Lilian. He's French but he goes about his business in the U.K. without any trouble. Yes, most assume he's a woman and it takes but a moment to correct them. But how dare his parents not think about the fact that he might move to the uk, eh? Bastards.
Bertrand, you know full well why people don't give boys girls' names and it's been said many times on this thread. But why the obsession with what people call their children? Children can be bastards but at least they have the excuse that they don't know any better; dd has a name most, not all, people think of as a boy's name but the only person who has ever given her grief over it was an adult. I doubt she's ever even had a conversation about her name with her peers. She is [that name] and they just call her by it. If the posters think it's 'cruel' do they also advocate changing surnames that are embarrassing? Balls? Tart? Ramsbottom? How far does it go for you strange people?

How about Billie?

There's a customer at work called Jules & even though I technically know it's a male name & that he's a bloke my brain automatically registers it as female until I see his surname & link the name to the person.

DS's name is a surname of Irish origin but it's commonly used as a girls name in the US so we had lots of "isn't that a girls name?" when we announced it

HeadoftheHive my dad said his firstborn would be Billy whether it was a boy or a girl... I'd never been so grateful to be the middle child especially given my surname

LadyPrickshit that's hilarious..given that i know your surname

Rebel my brother doesn't find it funny at all

I really liked billie for my DS, but it was DHs turn to choose!

LadyPrickshit..that's because he's the one stuck with the name

love the feminine sounding boys names: Vivian, Hilaire, Evelyn, Aubrey, Avery etc etc
I would certainly use one of those but id struggle to name my son a specifically female name like 'Emma' for instance.
I hate it that its that way but i just dont think it would be worth the flack id get from friends and relatives.
My son has long hair and i dress him in a mixture of clothing intended for boys and girls and a mixture of colours including blue and pink.... but i have drawn the line at skirts and dresses. I would buy him a dress if he asked for one but hes not old enough to ask yet. I wouldnt feel great about it tho which i think is really sad, just because id worry about him being picked on.
I wish kids could be feminine and masculine as much as they felt without it meaning that they werent really a boy or a girl or meaning anything about their sexuality or nature.
Theres nothing wrong or weak about feminine qualities.

BertrandRussell